KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Royals lost a heartbreaker last night at Fenway Park on a walk-off grand slam that gave the Red Sox a 6-2 win and marked Kansas City’s 3rd straight loss on the heels of a 7-game win streak…the game should’ve gone to extras when Luis Urías offered at a 100-mph pitch from Carlos Hernández on a 3-2 count, but first base umpire Vic Carapazza ruled that Urías checked his swing and was awarded first to load the bases…the play was not reviewable, but replay appeared to show Urías went around…two pitches later, Pablo Reyes hit a walk-off grand slam that overshadowed an outstanding performance by Royals left hander Cole Ragans, who allowed 2 runs (1 ER) on 4 hits and 1 walk in 6.2 innings, with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
Last night marked Kansas City’s 3rd walk-off loss, 1 more than the Angels and A’s for the fewest in 2023.
Despite losing 3 straight games, the Royals 7-3 record (.700) in their last 10 is tied for 3rd best in the Majors since July 28, trailing only the Mariners and Orioles, both of whom are 8-2 (.800) during that time.
STARTING SOMETHING: Cole Ragans, the 25-year-old left hander that Kansas City acquired in a three-player trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to Texas on June 30, has taken advantage of his new opportunity with the Royals…in 3 starts with them, Ragans is 1-0 with a 1.02 ERA (2 ER in 17.2 IP) and has issued just 4 walks (2.0 BB/9) with 22 strikeouts (11.2 K/9)…in his start last week against the Mets, he recorded a career-high 8 strikeouts in 6.0 innings, and topped that last night with a new career-best 11 strikeouts in 6.2 innings…only three left handers in Royals history have recorded more strikeouts in a game…four years ago at Detroit, Mike Montgomery had 12 strikeouts, matching Danny Jackson’s total from May 26, 1987 at Chicago…the franchise record is 16 strikeouts, done seven years ago on Aug. 1, 2016 by Danny Duffy, who fanned 16 Rays at The Trop.
Ragans’ 22 strikeouts are the most by any pitcher through 3 starts with the Royals, 1 more than teammate Alec Marsh, Homer Bailey (2019) and Ian Kennedy (2016), who all had 21 strikeouts through 3 outings.
Last night was the fifth time in the last 8 games that a Royals starting pitcher allowed 1 earned run or fewer, a stretch in which Kansas City’s starters rank 5th in the Majors with a 3.11 ERA (16 ER in 46.1 IP), trailing only Texas (2.56), Cleveland (2.78), Tampa Bay (3.06) and San Francisco (3.09)…Royals starters have issued 4 walks to 183 batters over 46.1 innings during this 8-game stretch for a league-best 2.2 BB%.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: Last night began a run of 9 straight night games for the Royals, including 4 here in Boston, 2 this weekend vs. St. Louis, followed by 3 straight night games next week vs. Seattle…this will match their longest run of night games in the Wild Card Era (since 1995), previously done from July 30-Aug. 11, 2014…the only other team to play 9 straight night games to this point this year is the Giants, who did so from June 12-17.
BLOWN LEADS: The Royals blew a 3-run lead on Sunday in Philadelphia for the 2nd straight game to suffer their Major League-most 37th blown lead loss of the season, more than the White Sox (35), Cardinals (34) and Athletics (33)…the back-to-back blown lead losses followed a season-long 12-game stretch without a blown lead loss…their 37 blown lead losses are 1 more than their total from all of last season, and are 16 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 campaign…they have held a lead in 58 of their last 84 games (69.0%) since the start of May, but they’re 29-55 (.345) during that stretch with 29 blown lead losses.
BOBBY BASEBALL: Bobby Witt Jr. had the game-tying RBI double in the 7th inning last night to continue his torrid stretch at the plate…over his last 14 games since July 22, Bobby is batting .414 (24-for-58) with 9 extra-base hits, 17 RBI and 5 stolen bases with a .724 slugging percentage and 1.176 OPS…after hitting .228 (52-for228) with a .695 OPS through the end of May, Witt Jr. is batting .311 (69-for-22) since June 1, a stretch in which his 69 hits are tied with Corey Seager for the most in the American League, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (72).
Witt Jr.’s 2.6 fWAR since June 1 ranks tied with José Ramírez, Adolis García, Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick for 4th among AL position players, trailing Ohtani (4.5), Seager (3.1) and Luis Robert (2.7).
With his home run last Friday night in Philadelphia, Witt Jr. became the first player in Major League history to record at least 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in each of his first two big league seasons.
Through 114 team games, Witt Jr. is on pace for 28 home runs and 45 stolen bases, a combination that has been matched just eight times before in Major League history, most recently by Mike Trout in 2012.
MIKEY LIKELY: Maikel Garcia (my-KELL) had an RBI single in the 7th inning last night as part of Kansas City’s 2-out rally, extending his career-high hit streak to 11 games, during which he’s batting .304 (14-for-46) with 9 RBI…it’s the 4th-longest active hit streak in the Majors and is the longest by a Royal since Bobby Witt Jr.’s 13- game hit streak last Sept. 16-Oct. 1…for the season, Garcia’s .279 batting average (84-for-301) ranks 2nd among American League rookies (min. 300 plate appearances), trailing only Boston’s Masataka Yoshida (.306).
Despite not making his season debut until May 2, Garcia leads the AL and ranks 2nd in the Majors with 8 sacrifice flies, trailing only Eugenio Suárez (9)…he’s tied for the 3rd most sac. flies by a rookie in Royals history, trailing only Carlos Beltrán (10 in 1999) and Lou Piniella (9 in 1969)…the Royals record for sac. flies is 13, set by Darrell Porter in 1979 and matched by Dean Palmer in 1998 and Mike Sweeney in 2000.
vS. RED SOX: The Royals continue this 7-game trip tonight with the 2nd of 4 games at Fenway Park, where they haven’t won a series since 2017…they’re 3-11 since (including last night) and have lost four straight sets here, in which they’ve been outscored 90-61 (-29)…despite dropping 2 of 3 here last September, the Royals won 3 of 4 vs. the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium last August to win the season series for the first time since 2017 (4-2).
THE RUNNING ROYALS: The Royals are 20-for-21 on stolen base attempts in their last 10 games since July 27, and their 20 steals are 3 more than the Diamondbacks (17) for the Major League lead and 9 more than the Astros (11) for the American League lead…after recording only 40 stolen bases in 56 games through the end of May, the Royals rank tied for 2nd in the Major Leagues and lead the American League with 66 steals in 58 games since June 1…they also rank tied for 2nd in the Majors and 1st in the American League with 30 stolen bases in 23 games since the All-Star break…for the entire season, they rank 4th in the Majors with 106 stolen bases in 114 games.
Dairon Blanco has 7 stolen bases in 16 games since the break, tied with José Ramírez for 3rd most in the American League behind Willi Castro (9) and Kyle Tucker (8)…for the season, Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 4th in the Majors with 32 steals behind Ronald Acuña Jr. (53), Esteury Ruiz (44) and Corbin Carroll (36).
ARMS RACE: Drew Waters recorded his 4th outfield assist of the season on Sunday, when he threw out Kyle Schwarber at third base in the 5th inning…it also extended the Royals Major League lead in the category to 27, which are 5 more than the next closest team, the Tigers (22), and are 5 more than their total from all of last season…the Royals are attempting to lead the Majors in outfield assists for the first time since 2011 and 2012, when they had 51 in both seasons, which were the most by any team since Cleveland had 51 in 1993.
Nine different Royals have recorded an outfield assist this year, led by MJ Melendez’s 7 outfield assists.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP BRADY SINGER (7-8, 5.10)
BRADY SINGER is making his team-high 23rd start of the season and 86th of his career tonight…it’s his 2nd career start vs. the Red Sox and 1st since last September… Singer is in his fourth season in the Majors and was selected by Kansas City in the 1st round (18th overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the Univ. of Florida.
THE LAST TIME: Singer earned his team-best 7th win in last Thursday’s 9-2 victory over the Mets at Kauffman Stadium, in which he allowed just 3 hits and no walks over 8.0 scoreless innings, with 4 strikeouts…he stranded one in the 2nd and 4th frames and induced a 4-6-3 double play in the 5th to erase the last baserunner he allowed… Brady did not permit a runner past first base and he retired his final 11 batters.
I’M STILL STANDING: Following a breakout season in 2022, Brady has struggled through ups and downs this year, as he’s been charged with at least 4 earned runs in 10 of his 22 starts, something that happened in only 5 of his 24 starts last season… the Royals, predictably, are 2-8 in games that he allows at least 4 earned runs…but on the flip side, he’s held opponents to 2 earned runs or fewer in his other 12 starts, in which the Royals are 8-4…after going 2-4 with an 8.82 ERA (33 ER in 33.2 IP) and 7 home runs allowed in his 1st 7 starts of the season, Singer is 5-4 with a 3.68 ERA (36 ER in 88.0 IP) with only 5 home runs allowed (0.5 HR/9) in his last 15 starts.
CHANGE OF TUNE: Brady has thrown 36 changeups in 4 starts since the All-Star break, which have accounted for 9.1% of his pitch count during that time…he’s 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA (8 ER in 27.0 IP) over those 4 starts, and his changeup has helped keep left-handed batters off balance, as he’s held them to a .104 average (7-for-67)… in 18 starts before the break, Singer threw 88 changeups, which accounted for 5.4% of his pitch count…he went 5-8 with a 5.80 ERA (61 ER in 94.2 IP) during that time, and left handers hit him to the tune of a .292 average (64-for-219) and .862 OPS.
SONG OF THE SOUTH(PAWS): Opponents have stacked their lineups with lefthanded batters vs. Singer, who is mostly a two-pitch pitcher, as his sinker and slider account for 93.5% of his pitches…of the 529 batters Singer has faced, 322 of them (60.9%) have been left handers, which is the highest rate in the Majors (min. 500 BF)…as noted above, his increased changeup usage in 4 starts since the break has helped him hold left handers to a .104 average (7-for-67) and .346 OPS…44 pitchers have faced at least 50 left handers since the break, and only Corbin Burnes has held them to a lower average (.058) or OPS (.213) than Singer’s mark’s of .104 and .346.
WALK THIS WAY: Brady has pitched at least 5.0 innings without issuing a walk in 15 of his 46 starts since last year, tied with teammate Zack Greinke, George Kirby and Corey Kluber for the 2nd most in the Majors, 1 behind Aaron Nola (16)…but on the flip side, Singer has issued multiple walks in 13 of his 22 starts this season, which are 5 more than his total of multi-walk starts from all of last season, when he made 24 starts…he’s walked 38 in 212.2 innings this year for a 2.8 BB/9, already 3 more than his walk total in 153.1 innings last season (35), when he had a career-best 2.1 BB/9.
CALL ME MAYBE: In 46 starts since his recall on May 17 of last year, Brady has induced a called strike on 862 of 4,393 pitches (19.6%), 3rd most in the Majors behind Logan Webb (923) and Gerrit Cole (869)…his rate of 19.6% called strikes since May 17, 2022 leads the Majors (min. 4,000 pitches), ahead of Alex Cobb (17.8%)…since his 2020 debut season, Singer’s called-strike rate of 20.4% ranks 2nd in the Majors (min. 5,000 pitches), trailing only Adam Wainwright (20.8%).
CAN’T TOUCH THIS: Singer has recorded 446 strikeouts in 467.2 innings since his 2020 debut for an 8.6 K/9, which is the best rate in Royals history among pitchers who’ve started at least 70 games, ahead of Ian Kennedy (8.4), Jakob Junis (8.1) and Danny Duffy (8.1)…his 446 strikeouts are the 2nd most by a Royals pitcher through 88 career appearances, 4 behind Royals Hall of Famer Steve Busby, who had 450.
DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: Singer has had success in his career following a Royals loss, and he’ll attempt to be the stopper again today after Kansas City’s 6-2 defeat last night…in 54 career appearances following a Royals loss, Singer is 18-14 with a 3.91 ERA (125 ER in 288.0 IP), and 5 of his 7 wins this season have followed a Royals loss.
VS. BOSTON: In his only previous outing vs. the Red Sox last Sept. 17 here at Fenway Park, Singer earned a 9-0 win and allowed jut 5 hits and 1 walk over 6.0 scoreless innings, with 5 strikeouts to mark Kansas City’s 1st shutout victory at Fenway Park in 25 years, since May 5, 1997, a 2-0 win in which Kevin Appier threw a 5-hit shutout.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Singer is 2-4 with a 6.91 ERA (33 ER in 43.0 IP) in 8 road starts this season, where his ERA is nearly 3 points higher than it is at Kauffman Stadium, where he’s 5-4 in 14 starts with a 4.12 ERA (36 ER in 78.2 IP)…his last road win came on May 16 in San Diego, where he held the Padres to 4 runs (2 ER) in 6.0 innings…he’s 0-3 in 4 road starts since, during which he’s allowed 17 runs in 22.1 innings.
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox snapped a 4-game losing streak last night, earning their 5th walk-off win of the season. The Sox are 7-7 in their last 14 games. At 58-54 (.518), Boston owns MLB’s 14th-best record.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Pablo Reyes hit a walk-off grand slam in the 9th inning last night to defeat the Royals, 6-2…It was the Sox’ 21st game-ending slam in franchise history and 1st since Franchy Cordero’s on 5/22/22 vs. SEA (10th inn.) It was also Boston’s 6th grand slam of the year (previous: Yoshida-7/16 at CHC; 5th inn.).
Reyes went 3-for-4 (3 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB)…He matched career highs in hits, RBI, XBH, and runs scored. Brayan Bello recorded his 11th quality start this year (6.2 IP, 6 H, R, 2 BB, 2 SO).
IT’S GO TIME: The Red Sox yesterday began a stretch of 10 straight games against teams who currently hold a record below .500 (1-0 vs. KC, 3 vs. DET, 3 at WSH). Those 3 teams own a combined record of 134-204 (.396). Prior to this stretch, Boston played 11 straight games against teams at or above .500…They went 4-7 over that span (2-0 vs. ATL, 1-2 at SF, 1-2 at SEA, 0-3 vs. TOR). 6 of the Sox’ 11 series from 7/7-8/17 are against teams that entered today with a record of .500 or lower.
BACK TO THE GRIND: Boston is currently on a season-long 10-game homestand (3 vs. TOR, 4 vs. KC, 3 vs. DET). Boston is in a stretch of 32 games in 34 days, from 7/28-8/30…They will only have 1 day off (8/14) in a 27-day span from 8/4-30. After their off day on 8/14, the Sox will play a game on 16 consecutive days from 8/15-30.
SOX & ROYALS: The Sox are 11-3 vs. KC at Fenway Park since the start of 2018, including 7-1 in their last 8…They’ve won each of the last 4 series played at the venue. Boston went 3-4 against the Kansas City in 2022…Are 19-8 vs. the Royals since the start of 2018. The Red Sox will visit Kauffman Stadium for a 3-game series from 9/1-3.
CENTRAL TIME: The Red Sox are 12-8 against AL Central teams this season, after going 18-15 in 2022. Yesterday began a stretch of 7 straight games against AL Central teams (1-0 vs. KC, 3 vs. DET). They’re 3-2-1 in series against AL Central opponents (3-0 at DET, 2-1 vs. MIN, 2-1 vs. CLE, 1-2 at CLE, 2-2 at MIN, 1-2 at CWS).
RUNNIN’ RED SOX: The Sox rank 5th in the AL and 11th in the majors in stolen base % (80.6, 79-for-98). The Sox’ top 3 leaders in steals are a combined 38- for-42 (90.5%): Jarren Duran (23-for-25), Masataka Yoshida (8-for-8), and Rob Refsnyder (7-for-9).
SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox rank 2nd in MLB in doubles (246)…They rank 2nd in the AL in AVG (.262) and XBH (386), and 4th in OBP (.329), SLG (.432) and OPS (.761).
In their last 29 games since 6/30, Boston leads the AL in AVG (.273), and rank 3rd in SLG (.467) and OPS (.795). The Sox have hit 36 HR in their last 23 games since 7/8, 5th most in the AL and 11th in MLB during that span.
RED SOX OFFENSE BY DATE
Dates Record AVG OPS Runs/G
3/30-5/6 21-14 .273 .800 5.9
5/7-6/13 12-21 .243 .704 3.8
6/14-7/27 22-12 .281 .803 5.4
7/28-pres. 3-7 .225 .665 3.3
HOME COOKING: The Sox last night snapped a 3-game home losing streak…They’re 10-4 in their last 14 home games. In 15 home games since the start of July, the Sox have hit .295 with an .835 OPS (50 XBH: 28 2B, 3 3B, 19 HR). At home, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.288) and OBP (.354)…They also rank 3rd in OPS (.821), 4th in SLG (.467), and 5th in runs scored per game (5.5).
HIGH FIVE: Boston owns MLB’s best record when scoring 5+ runs (47-7, .870)…Last night, they snapped a stretch of 4 straight games scoring fewer than 5 runs. Since 6/14, they’ve won 20 of their last 21 games when scoring 5+ runs, including each of their last 6 since 7/22.
LATE SURGE: Boston has scored 239 runs in innings 6-9, 2nd most in the AL behind TEX (248)…BOS leads the AL and ranks 2nd in MLB in hits during those innings (426; MIA-453).
LOCK IT DOWN: The Red Sox own MLB’s best record when leading after 6 innings (44-3, .936)…In 2022, they ranked 18th in MLB when leading after 6 (63-10, .863). Boston leads MLB in save % (75.6; 31-for-41). Kenley Jansen ranks 5th in the AL with 24 saves.
MARTY PARTY: Since 6/9, Chris Martin has allowed only one run over his last 21 outings, including 16 straight scoreless appearances from 6/9-7/25…His 0.48 ERA over that span is T-3rd best in MLB (min. 15.0 IP). Overall, his 1.49 ERA leads the Red Sox and is 4th best in the majors (min. 30 games). His home ERA of 0.49 ranks 2nd in MLB behind only Josh Hader’s mark of 0.42 (min. 20 games).
TRISTON TIME: Triston Casas was named the AL Rookie of the Month for July, batting .348 with a 1.199 OPS during the month (23-for-66, 4 2B, 7 HR, 13 RBI, 11 BB). Prior to Casas, the only Red Sox player to post an OPS that high in any calendar month (min. 50 PA) before turning 24 was Ted Williams (8 times, 1939-42). Casas has 8 HR since the All-Star break, tied for most in the AL with Ohtani and T-4th in MLB over that span.
ON THE MEND: Chris Sale and Tanner Houck are on rehab assignments with Triple-A Worcester…Garrett Whitlock is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment tomorrow vs. Buffalo. Sale did not allow a run over 2 starts at Syracuse on 8/1 & 8/6 (6.1 IP, 4 H, 10 SO, 2 BB, 93 pitches). Houck made his 1st rehab start Saturday at Syracuse, allowing 2 runs in 1.2 IP (3 H, 3 BB, 3 SO, 46 pitches).
TONIGHT’S STARTER: 50 KUTTER CRAWFORD – RHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 5-5 3.62 21 13 82.0 33 12 19 81 1.09 .228
CAREER 8-12 4.74 43 26 161.1 85 25 50 160 1.28 .253
Is making his 2nd career start against the Royals (8/7/22 at KC: 5.0 IP, L, 5 R, 5 H). In 4 starts since the All-Star break, has a 2.18 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and .169 opponent AVG (20.2 IP, 5 R, 12-for-71, 6 BB, 23 SO)…Allowed 0 or 1 R in 3 of those 4 outings. In his last 8 starts (beginning 6/20), is 4-2 with a 3.05 ERA (41.1 IP, 14 ER, 1.04 WHIP). Owns a 2.13 ERA on the road (12 ER/50.2 IP) and a 6.03 ERA at home (21 ER/31.1 IP). Ranks in MLB’s 75th percentile or higher in chase rate (88th), walk rate (85th), fastball spin (90th), and expected opponent AVG (77th). Opponents have hit .171 vs. his 4-seam fastball (18-for-105), MLB’s 6th-lowest mark against that pitch (6th out of 132, min. 100 PA).
